I have been totally waiting for Fernando Martinez to show his stuff. Bring it!

Buck was quite cagey today when a WFAN radio host begged him not to start Ruf vs Braves and Fried on Friday.

Rookie Vientos has some pop but has struggled in a Sept audition. maybe we have "The Natural" here.....

Nido has been shockingly respectable hitting in the past month, and even McCann has fogged a mirror at times. both know what they are doing defensively, and a 20-year-old kid ain't catching the Mets vets SPs in the postseason unless he is utterly raking - and maybe not even then.

Talk about debuting under no pressure...

I have been totally waiting for Fernando Martinez to show his stuff. Bring it!

I think you mean Francisco Pena.

Talk about debuting under no pressure...

That's what I thought too....hope he doesn't go 0 for the week and then have trouble shaking it off next year....we could be looking at another Rick Ankle situation. (knock on wood)

Are you guys talking about The Fernanchise?

While I’m here, I might as well stake a claim for Alvarez’s nickname. The Franchisco? Eh.

Nido has been more than respectable in September: 333/340/563 and 290/319/449 in the second half. For all my whining at the trade deadline, catcher hasn’t been too bad and probably wouldn’t have gotten much of an upgrade to this point (McCann is still sub-500 OPS).

I can still complain about not just letting JD Davis keep the DH spot though. He’s been good for 289/386/544 since traded and now has his season OPS+ at 121, within his career norms. Mets have not gotten good results out of their hydra there, some might call it pretty Ruf. I know it’s shocking that the hitter with the best career out of the bunch performed the best, but who doesn’t like pointless reshuffling trades so you appear to be doing something?

Isn't it all moot if/when Marte comes back? One of the infielders (McNeil, Escobar, Guilmore) will just DH. Waste of good defense, and an injury will probably result in the loss of the DH, but those guys are all hitting

Talk about debuting under no pressure...

That's what I thought too....hope he doesn't go 0 for the week and then have trouble shaking it off next year....we could be looking at another Rick Ankle situation. (knock on wood)

If you were going to do this, why didn't they bring him up a few games earlier to at least get his feet wet before the big showdown on hostile turf?

Is he eligible for the postseason? How does that work?

He is, according to TFA. I would assume that’s because he was already on the 40-man?

Marte is OUT for the Braves series and I'm not sure if/when he returns at all (broken finger), alas

Is he eligible for the postseason? How does that work?

From MLB Trade Rumors:

Álvarez’s promotion for such important regular season games raises the possibility he’ll also crack the postseason roster. Only players on a team’s 40-man roster by September 1 are automatically eligible to partake in the playoffs. However, players in an organization but not on the 40-man by September 1 can be added to a playoff roster in place of someone on the injured list via petition to the commissioner’s office. That situation is fairly common every postseason, so the Mets shouldn’t have much issue getting Álvarez onto the playoff roster if they desire.

However, players in an organization but not on the 40-man by September 1 can be added to a playoff roster in place of someone on the injured list via petition to the commissioner’s office.

Is it still the case that pitchers have to replace pitchers and position players have to replace position players?

It's very odd timing. Is one of the Mets catchers hurt but not IL'd? Do they want to carry three catchers for some reason ? Is his hitting so good that he's being called up as a pinch hitter ?

His bat is considered ready and he will DH. Besides carrying 3 Cs on the 28-man Sept roster is pretty common (Cubs have had 3 since at least Gomes returned from the IL) and dropping to 12 pitchers for the playoffs wouldn't be unheard of. The timing's only "odd" because he got hurt in late Aug and missed three weeks, He probably would have been up in early-mid Sept (the AAA season seems to run late this year) without the injury, instead they gave him another couple of weeks to get tuned up. Since his return he's hit 362/483/596 which is the sort of thing that will get you promoted to the big leagues.

This sort of thing used to happen "all the time" before teams got fixated on delaying service time. With the new rules, there's not much point in the Mets holding him back until next season.

Is it still the case that pitchers have to replace pitchers and position players have to replace position players?

Only if you make the injury replacement during a postseason series. So a pitcher who gets hurt in game 1 of a series could only be replaced by a pitcher for game 2 (and the injured pitcher would have to sit out the following series too).

But before the postseason or between series, Alvarez could take the postseason eligible spot of any injured player or pitcher.

Is the 13-pitcher limit in effect for the postseason?

Is the 13-pitcher limit in effect for the postseason?

Yes.

Alvarez didn't even go the bullpen today to warm up as a C.

the Mets best Ps are age 37, 34, 33, 29, 35 and 28, 36, 32. no 'day care' seems likely.

he hit a rocket to 3B on the first pitch he saw that Riley deftly one-hopped into a DP.

Ruf has been a disaster and 24-yr-old OF slugger callup Vientos has looked overmatched this month.

Alvarez is the Mets DH vs LHP now.

Alvarez is the Mets DH vs LHP now.

Meanwhile, he looks lost at sea against righties.

Alvarez is the Mets DH vs LHP now.
Meanwhile, he looks lost at sea against righties.

Meanwhile^2, the Mets traded for a DH against righties, who was doing pretty well in that role, but Alvarez wasn't pinch hit for.